The poultry supply in the southern African country of Mozambique looks set to receive a boost from technology provided by Belarus.
Belarussian head of foreign economic affairs at the Agriculture and Food Ministry, Alexei Bogdanov, announced the investment at the official opening of this week’s international food industry expo, Prodexpo, in Minsk, reports Belarus news agency, BelTA.
“We are in talks over joint projects to build a poultry farm, a vegetable storehouse, and greenhouses for growing vegetables,” Bogdanov said. “It is possible that we will invest in the project, but the bulk of money will be provided by Mozambique and South Africa. This is a promising project.”
Other countries interested in Belarus agriculture
It appears it is not only Belarus that has shown interest in investing in the Mozambican poultry sector. Following a trip to the country by the Korean Rural Community Corporation (KRCC) of South Korea, the visiting delegation announced their interest in developing the country’s poultry and egg production as well as corn and rice crops.
At the end of October in the central province of Zambezia, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi officially launched the agricultural campaign for the coming year, according to Mozambican news agency, AIM. At the event, the president stressed the importance of poultry and eggs as well as corn and vegetables, for national food security. He also called on the country’s millions of smallholders to try to shift from subsistence agriculture to systems that can guarantee both food security and income.
According to FAOstat, the statistics arm of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, Mozambique produced 24,300 metric tons (mt) of chicken meat and 45,000mt of eggs in shell in 2013, the most recent year for which the data have been published. While egg production had been trending upwards over the previous decade, growth in poultry meat output has been minimal and inconsistent.
